Her name's almost symbolic of the utopia she seeks. Paradise Sorouri is using rap to cut down the stray weed that is patriarchy in a country that won't accept a woman for what she is, let alone one without a hijab.

The New York Times

Instead, Sorouri sticks to her uniform - a hoodie, camo-fatigues and a cap. Only that's not the most offensive thing about her to the upholders of an oppressive regime. Her words are more potent.

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“It doesn’t matter if you are a singer, an artist, or a teacher,” Paradise explained in an interview with the Guardian.

“If you are a woman in Afghanistan, you are a problem. I am speaking out and fighting for women who don’t have a voice.”

At only 27, she's received more death threats than she cares to remember, been beaten up in the middle of a street by at least 10 men, and fled her country twice. And one doesn't expect any less from a country where, sadly, '87% of women have endured physical or sexual violence.' (Source)

Jean Chung/Emaze

Her fluent rap in Dari tells the gruesome reality of being a woman in Afghanistan - how you want to talk but can't because you're a woman; how you try to run but can't because you're stabbed in the back; how you try to think but can't because you're stabbed in the head; how you resisted rape and deserved the acid on your face because you're a woman; and how you really have nothing to show for the fact that you're really alive.

Sorouri's equally acidic lyrics had done it. Her music squashed a raw nerve that rocked post-Taliban Afghanistan. Controversy came easily.

Sobers you right up.

Fortunately, she's not alone in her fight against the oppression of women. Her husband, Diverse, and she are the two halves that also comprise the group 143Band that won Afghan ATN network's Best Rap Act award in 2015. While the death threats didn't cease to exist, what they did gain was popularity and respect. In 2013, the UN recognised her effort to promote human rights.

Popdust

Sorouri grew up in Iran to parents who had had to escape the country's civil war. Once Taliban fell, the need to be closer to her roots led her back to Afghanistan and Herat became her home. One evening while walking down a street with her brother, ten men on a bike caught up with her and unleashed a brutal attack that left her bruised as much on the outside as it did on the inside.

"They were shouting at me and saying I was a bad influence on other women by trying to make music," Paradise says. "All I could do was to try to defend my brother. They passed me from one man to the next. I begged people nearby to help, but they just urged the men to beat me to death."

When Diverse took her to the cops, all they got was a 'stop singing.' "That’s when I knew that if I stayed silent, nothing would change."

Soon after, in late 2010, the couple moved to Tajikistan hoping what may haunt them in their own country wouldn't follow them here. And may be moving was a good thing considering that's when they released Faryad-e Zan (Woman's Shout), which is when her identity as a woman and rapper came to the forefront.

The Chronicle Herald

Two years, nine songs and five videos later, in 2012 came the heartbreaking news of her two cousins - nine and twelve - who'd chosen self-immolation over marriage. This news chipped away at her heart and drew her back to Afghanistan. This led her to create Nalestan that was well-received internationally.

"The success of Nalestan was both good and bad. We were interviewed by journalists from all over the world, but I started to get death threats every day. It got so bad I had to stay inside my sister’s house in Herat for a month like a prisoner."

2015 saw the duo record Rebel Beats, around the same time a woman had been falsely accused of burning the Quran, beaten and set to fire by an angry mob. Soon after, they decided to leave Afghanistan for a final time and settle in Berlin.

As she puts it, the fight is far from over. "Since the Taliban left power, the situation for women in Afghanistan has improved, but only in large cities like Kabul, Mazar Sharif and Herat. And the majority of Afghanistan’s population does not live in these few cities," bust.com quotes her as saying.

"Every day we hear new stories about violence against women, forced marriages at very early ages and all sorts of other abuse. We still have a long way to go."